Alberta
Health Care Protection Act

For the
story of some of the forces behind the Alberta Health Care
Protection Act, the recommendations of the Premier's
Advisory Council on Health Care, and current debate on
implications of increasing reliance on private business and
out-of-pocket charges (and ultimately private health
insurance) to fund health care, the following sources
of information about Public
Health Care are indispensable. You can form your
own opinion about the merits of public health care and the
risks created by Alberta's Health Care Protection Act and
regulations. The Alberta Consumers' Association
made recommendations
to improve the effectiveness of the health care system and
increase the accountability of the province, regional health
authorities, private health service providers, and
doctors. In addition, we made suggestions to subject
private health service providers to the competition law and
vendors of enhanced and non insured services to the Alberta
Fair Trading act. (ALERT)

Canary in the
Mine Shaft

"The Consumer Experience with Cataract Surgery
and Private Clinics in Alberta; Canada's Canary in the Mine
Shaft" This report released by the Alberta Consumers'
Association describes how the Alberta model of cataract
delivery emerged, and how it has evolved into a well
entrenched two-tiered model of publicly insured care. It
also describes the changing character of "private" health
care in Alberta and how taxpayer dollars are increasingly
used to subsidize commercial activities and new
investor-driven health care corporations - to the detriment
of the public and the public plan. Contrary to commonly held
beliefs and claims made by suppliers, the evidence in the
report reveals that the growth of private cataract surgery
clinics in Alberta has:

increased public waiting lists (the same
physician services both the private and public systems);

increased the cost of services to the plan, the
price to patients and the cost of health plan coverage to
the community at large;

created a number of conflicts-of -interest
which jeopardize taxpayers and patients;

decreased public accountability, public
scrutiny, and public control of the Alberta provincial
health care plan.

"Remarkably, instead of being the solution to
rising costs, longer waits and less than ideal patient care,
increased reliance on private business and the introduction
of new sources of private payment for suppliers has been the
cause of many of these problems", said Wendy Armstrong, the
author of the report.

The Press
Release and the Executive
Summary are posted on this site and Copies of the
report "The Consumer Experience with Cataract Surgery and
Private Clinics in Alberta; Canada's Canary in the Mine
Shaft" by Wendy Armstrong are available from:

Price: $15 for individuals and $25 dollars for
organization/business (postage paid)Pages may be reproduced (but not sold) for public interest
purposes by non-profit organizations and individual citizens
as long as credit is given to the source.

Since the 1990s, dramatic changes to Alberta's long term care
sector have unfolded with little media notice. Confusing
jargon, mixed messages, lack of data, and widespread
differences among the province's 17 regional health
authorities have disguised much of the restructuring. Yet the
changes have not gone unnoticed by families. Today, more and
more adult children and elderly spouses are finding themselves
trapped in the bewildering grip of Alberta's heavily
privatized LTC environment. What they find is rarely what they
expect - or need.

In 2002 the Alberta Chapter of the Consumers' Association of
Canada decided to investigate these changes. Our research
found that both residential and in-home care for the elderly
have become costly and inaccessible arenas for many people.
Quality is often grim, staffing levels are marginal. The
promise of innovative models of care has been largely eclipsed
by limited access and decreasing coverage of the costs
associated with care. Many families now face an untenable
choice: either give up a salary to care for a loved one at
home, or spend savings and assets to purchase private
services. Indeed, so much of the burden and cost of care has
been offloaded to families that the Long Term Care Association
of Alberta is quietly advising people to purchase private LTC
insurance to protect their income and assets.

If this sounds like American-style health care, it is. And
just as the administrative costs of the U.S. system are much
more expensive than Canada's, Alberta is now spending more
money managing an increasingly fragmented LTC sector, leaving
less money for actual care. Between 1997/1998 and 1999/2000,
the actual money spent on administration by regional health
authorities increased by 15.2 percent - more than for any
other identified category except research and education.

Laser Eye Surgery
(LASIK)

Laser surgery (LASIK) has become a popular choice to
correct vision problems. It is widely promoted as a "cure" and
a safe, convenient alternative to glasses. However,
LASIK is not always a cure and is not always safe. For
many individuals it is a poor choice. Before agreeing to
LASIK surgery please visit the U. S. Food and Drug
Administration site. FDA:
LASIK Eye Surgeryhttp://www.fda.gov/cdrh/lasik/
The site identifies the risks involved, offers advice on
choosing a doctor, and provides a pre-surgery check
list. You can't give informed consent without a visit.

CAC Alberta is monitoring the outcomes of LASIK
surgery. If you have had problems with this surgery
please email us at cacab.ecn.ab.ca You will be contacted
for a confidential interview. (ALERT) (ALERT)

Products, Recalls, and Fraud

CBC Market Place
(http://www.tv.cbc.ca/market/recalls/)is a consumer
affairs show. This page contains current and ongoing
warnings about products and fraud. (ALERT)

United States Warnings

Health

FoodSafety.gov is a gateway website that
provides links to selected government food safety-related
information. This web site is part of the National
Food Safety Information Network. It is maintained by FDA's
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.
http://www.foodsafety.gov/~fsg/fsgnews.html

Fraud

The Better
Business
Bureau serves the US and Canada from this site.
The internet has given them a new source of revenue,
charging for companies to join their Reliability Seal
Program Privacy Seal Program. However, if a company
hasn't paid you may find a warning here. Just kidding,
I'm sure they are unbiased.
http://www.bbb.org/

Internet Fraud Watch
(http://www.fraud.org/internet/inttip/itpset.htm) is a
project of the National Consumers League.